"I'm really amazed at the amount of authority and decision-making that is allowed at the store level," said Mat Schuster, the Salud coordinator in San Mateo. "First and foremost, we try to offer what the community wants and try to highlight different departments."

Departments such as seafood or cheese offer programs taught by their respective managers, such as a recent course in Shellfish 101 with Colin Hain Davidson. Sale items might be promoted with recipes on display throughout the store, and may be featured in a cooking class.

Schuster also invites instructors who are private chefs, sous chefs of local restaurants or culinary assistants to teach, such as a program on Vietnamese favorites with Damon Barham, culinary assistant to Martin Yan of "Yan Can Cook," and one on risotto with Matteo Ferrari, a former sous chef at D'asaro Trattoria in Redwood City who now has a catering company, Matteo in Your Kitchen.

Schuster, who earned a business degree from Emory University in Atlanta and a cooking degree from the California Culinary Academy, teaches classes as well. His expertise extends from fundamental skills such as sauteing and making sauces, to Southern barbecue, a tribute to his Texas upbringing. Classes generally last two hours and cost $15 to $25.

In addition, Salud offers lifestyles classes such as a Pilates lecture, skin care tips from the Zia company or a scrapbook workshop with Whole Foods' in-house graphics designer.

"Classes have to fit in with our core values," said Schuster. "No harmful chemicals, preservatives or additives." As befits Whole Foods' healthy orientation, Salud offers classes on diabetic, raw vegan or Ayurvedic cooking, and lectures on topics such as carbohydrate addiction, prevention of childhood ear infections and food allergies. Classes that are sponsored by or promote vendors are often free or subsidized.

Yet Whole Foods is not an advocate of holier-than-thou deprivation. For example, while Salud would not offer a class on meats cured with nitrates, it's all right to teach people how to deep-fry turkey -- so long as the oil is not hydrogenated or chemically extracted with solvents.

Schuster points out that "artisan products don't usually have artificial colors, preservatives or unnatural ingredients," so it's easy to segue into gourmet classes by Point Reyes Cheese or Scharffen Berger chocolate.

A typical demonstration-style cooking class is limited to 21 students while a hands-on class maxes out at 15. Three or four dishes are prepared and the instructor has one helper, usually Schuster or his assistant, Janna Fakier. There is no server, so silverware is passed around.

"We operate in a very casual environment," said Schuster. In fact, when Schuster is not wearing his chef's coat, he has been seen sporting sneakers, shorts and a "SpongeBob SquarePants" T-shirt. Body piercings and tattoos on team members are de rigueur. Brightly colored hair or dreadlocks also are acceptable.

Marcie Maffei, a San Mateo pottery instructor, likes how Salud's cooking classes "are intimate without being too formal" and says "they're the best- priced classes you can take." She also has taken lifestyle classes such as the one presented by Dr. Hauschka, a natural, organic, holistic skin care line. At the Dr. Hauschka event, Maffei did not feel pressured to buy products.

Overall, Maffei believes that taking classes at Salud is "a great way to meet people in our community."

Salud's wine seminars have gained a loyal following. For $15 to $20, participants can get a sampling of products and talk to the winemaker or the representative. Whole Foods prefers to support small producers and importers rather than conglomerates.

Seminars have featured Kathryn Kennedy Winery from Saratoga and Park Wines of Menlo Park, as well as tastings from Oregon's Deschutes Brewery, accompanied by a sausage-making demonstration from Whole Foods' in-house sausage maker.

The inexpensive ($3 to $5) Art Gallery & Wine Bar mixers, held every couple of weeks, are a popular way to end the workday. One event included a tasting of wines from Rombauer of St. Helena, accompanied by portraits and lifestyle photos by Palo Alto photographer Michael Winokur. A tasting with Santa Cruz's Storrs Winery showcased the artists of Creativity Explored, a San Francisco nonprofit visual arts center for people with developmental disabilities.

Schuster said Salud has not made a profit, but tries to break even; the goals are to educate consumers, present a "venue to sample products in a hands- on environment," and provide customers with a "reward for shopping here."